Testimony: FBI can easily look at e-mail addresses

The FBI and law enforcement can track to whom American citizens send e-mail, without any evidence of probable cause, said law enforcement officials during the House Judiciary Committee review of the Carnivore system Monday. When asking a judge for permission to collect the TO and FROM lines from every e-mail sent, the FBI only has to prove that the person whose digital mail is being tracked is connected to an ongoing investigation. The FBI based the legality of the technique in a Supreme Court ruling that stated that citizens should not expect the numbers called on a telephone to remain private. "From the Supreme Court's point of view, there may be no expectation of privacy," said Representative Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. "But I think, practically, people would be somewhat upset if you found out who I was talking to and never told me." Full story to follow. -- Robert Lemos, ZDNet News